Book of Margery Kempe

An analysis of the autobiography, “Book of Margery Kempe” and its themes and characters.

This paper discusses the autobiography “Book of Margery Kempe”. The paper examines the way the book was written, the themes in the book and how they compare to modern times and the character of Margery Kempe. The author also provides a brief comparison to Augustine’s Confessions.

The Book of Margery Kempe takes us to a world that first seems very different from our own, and then oddly familiar ; and then very different once more. The book, which was dictated by the apparently illiterate Kempe to two clerks in the 1430s is often credited to be the first autobiography written in English. It presents us with the story of brewery owner, Christian mystic, and mother of 14 Margery Kempe.